Marked for Bjorn Odegaard
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom26 Nov 2035
Pressure builds in the Tromso boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market26 Nov 2035
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The dugout26 Nov 2035
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Market26 Nov 2035
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Tromso is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad26 Nov 2035
A row about effort at Tromso
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giovanni Giunti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad26 Nov 2035
Tempers go at Tromso
Vegard Johansen was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad26 Nov 2035
16 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout26 Nov 2035
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout26 Nov 2035
Hakon Odegaard asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market27 Aug 2035
The deal that would have taken Fredrik Ajer to Haugesund has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Tromso with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Squad27 Aug 2035
A row about effort at Tromso
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giovanni Giunti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces27 Aug 2035
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Hakon Odegaard has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Match25 Aug 2035
Sandefjord made Tromso work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings27 Aug 2035
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.04, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad27 Aug 2035
Words exchanged at Tromso
Henrik Bjorkan and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout27 Aug 2035
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑0, already talking about the next one.
The dugout27 Aug 2035
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bjorn Odegaard, and the manager let it.
The dugout27 Aug 2035
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kristian Linnes trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
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The dugout
A promise honoured at Tromso
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Squad
The first one for Hakon Odegaard
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Squad
A Tromso teenager takes the young player award
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad2 Jul 2035
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match30 Jun 2035
No end in sight to Tromso's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Tromso has to find a result from somewhere.
The dugout2 Jul 2035
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Tromso may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad2 Jul 2035
Words at Tromso training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giovanni Giunti is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad2 Jul 2035
Mads Sande in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tromso this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match30 Jun 2035
A bad afternoon for Tromso against Skeid
0‑1 to Skeid, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout2 Jul 2035
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout2 Jul 2035
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Boardroom2 Jul 2035
Tromso sign 9 boys into the academy
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match23 Jun 2035
The wait goes on for Tromso
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Player ratings25 Jun 2035
Up for the corner, and Giovanni Giunti delivers — 7.92
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Giovanni Giunti scored, was marked 7.92, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Squad25 Jun 2035
A row about effort at Tromso
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giovanni Giunti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom25 Jun 2035
94% of the income goes out in wages at Tromso
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Squad25 Jun 2035
A falling-out at Tromso
Sander Odegaard and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match23 Jun 2035
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout25 Jun 2035
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout25 Jun 2035
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Player ratings25 Jun 2035
6 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Mar 2035
32 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Tromso lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market12 Mar 2035
Noah Berger hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tromso can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets12 Mar 2035
The deal with Lyn died in the treatment room. Nobody will say what was found and everybody in the game will find out by Friday.
Transfer targets12 Mar 2035
The deal with Sarpsborg 08 is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad12 Mar 2035
A row about effort at Tromso
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giovanni Giunti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets12 Mar 2035
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
The dugout12 Mar 2035
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Tromso, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout12 Mar 2035
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Hakon Odegaard is on it.
The dugout12 Mar 2035
Bjorn Odegaard is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Feb 2035
64 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Tromso lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market12 Feb 2035
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Egersund waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Tromso is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market12 Feb 2035
Noah Berger hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tromso can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets12 Feb 2035
Everything agreed with Sogndal, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad12 Feb 2035
Tempers go at Tromso
Lars Sorloth was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad12 Feb 2035
Words at Tromso training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giovanni Giunti is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Transfer targets12 Feb 2035
Tromso asked and KFUM Oslo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout12 Feb 2035
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kristian Linnes trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout12 Feb 2035
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Jan 2035
94 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Tromso lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market15 Jan 2035
Fredrik Berge hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tromso can pretend not to have heard.
Squad15 Jan 2035
Giovanni Giunti falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad15 Jan 2035
“The easiest signature of my career.” Alexander Bohinen and Tromso agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad15 Jan 2035
Tempers go at Tromso
Kristian Pedersen was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The dugout15 Jan 2035
Lars Sorloth asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout15 Jan 2035
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Hakon Odegaard is on it.
The dugout15 Jan 2035
The manager has not finished forgetting Bjorn Odegaard's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Market15 Jan 2035
The Lars Sorloth talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Tromso know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout18 Dec 2034
Hakon Odegaard: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Tromso have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market18 Dec 2034
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Tromso, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad18 Dec 2034
Tempers go at Tromso
Mads Sande was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad18 Dec 2034
Kristian Linnes falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Boardroom18 Dec 2034
Wages eat 87% of everything Tromso earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The dugout18 Dec 2034
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad20 Nov 2034
Aleksander Sulland damages knee ligaments — 32 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 32 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad20 Nov 2034
19 days out for Jonas Bohinen after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Tromso will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout20 Nov 2034
Fredrik Berge: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Tromso have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market20 Nov 2034
Jonas Bohinen hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tromso can pretend not to have heard.
Squad20 Nov 2034
Tempers go at Tromso
Mads Sande was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad20 Nov 2034
A row about effort at Tromso
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giovanni Giunti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom20 Nov 2034
94% of the income goes out in wages at Tromso
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
The dugout20 Nov 2034
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Tromso told Vegard Johansen something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout20 Nov 2034
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Hakon Odegaard is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad9 Oct 2034
Aleksander Sulland damages knee ligaments — 79 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 79 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market9 Oct 2034
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad9 Oct 2034
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad9 Oct 2034
He is 20, he is averaging 7.00, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Squad9 Oct 2034
A falling-out at Tromso
Ibaider Garriz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match7 Oct 2034
IK Start left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout9 Oct 2034
the manager faces the questions
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” the manager after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout9 Oct 2034
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Martin Strandberg, and the manager let it.
The dugout9 Oct 2034
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Aug 2034
Aleksander Sulland damages knee ligaments — 136 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 136 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad21 Aug 2034
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Boardroom21 Aug 2034
Tromso close the window on a squad of their own making
20 in and 24 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Squad21 Aug 2034
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tromso this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Aug 2034
A row about effort at Tromso
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giovanni Giunti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets21 Aug 2034
Tromso asked and Bodo/Glimt said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match19 Aug 2034
0‑2 to Sandefjord, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout21 Aug 2034
the manager answers for it
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Looking ahead21 Aug 2034
A test against the best for Tromso
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Odd.